RESIDENT EVIL ZERO – 2002
During development for the original Resident Evil, the idea of a prequel was thought up, with the aim being to release the game on Nintendo’s recently announced 64DD peripheral for the N64. After the 64DD failed to sell four years later, the plan was changed to release the prequel – titled Resident Evil Zero – on the Nintendo 64 itself, and use the consoles strengths, namely the lack of loading screens, to incorporate new features such as the ability to switch character instantly, no matter their location in the game. Another design feature was the removal of item chests, instead having to swap items between the two playable characters or drop them on the ground, picking them up at a later point, similar to the game that inspired Resident Evil; Sweet Home.
The existence of a Resident Evil title being created for the new Nintendo console was revealed in early 1999 by Yoshiki Okamoto, head of Capcom’s screenplay writing company “Flagship”. This game was officially confirmed as Resident Evil Zero in 2000, when the game was 20 percent completed. A playable version was also showcased at the Tokyo Game Show that same year. An easter egg was also included in the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2 in the form of a document the player could collect, which revealed plot elements for the still to be released prequel. With a similar atmosphere of suspense as the original game as opposed to the sequels’ shift towards action, Resident Evil Zero was due for release around June 2000, but development crawled to a halt when in became apparent the data for the game would not fit on just one cartridge. Production was then shifted to the upcoming Nintendo Gamecube, with the concept and plot was carried over, but the game data had to be recreated from scratch. The game was delayed further to redesign the environment and characters due to the upgraded technology available to the developers. The “partner zapping” feature was retained, but the use of optical discs instead of cartridges meant loading screens had to be avoided, using sophisticated programming to make the shift between each character seamless. Resident Evil Zero was released in North America and Japan in November 2002, and in Europe and Australia early the following year.
The story for Resident Evil Zero was set just prior to the events of Resident Evil, and opened up with Bravo Team, who had gone missing in the original game, suffering from an engine failure with their helicopter, causing them to crash-land in the forests of the Arklay Mountains near Raccoon City. The youngest and newest member of the team, Rebecca Chambers, discovers a stationary train in the forest, and finds it infested with zombies after an earlier attack on the passengers by leech-like creatures. She is separated from Bravo Team, and encounters the other playable character of the game, Billy Coen. An escaped convict, and former Marine Force Reconnaissance, Rebecca is initially distrustful of Billy, but they work together in order to survive and escape the train, which has now started moving through the forest to an unknown destination by a couple of Umbrella operatives who are soon killed by leeches. As the train speeds out of control, Rebecca and Billy manage to divert its course and crash it into an abandoned building.
This building turns out to be a disused training facility for Umbrella, and Rebecca and Billy discover that in the 1960’s, Umbrella co-founder and former director of the facility, Dr. James Marcus, had discovered the Progenitor Virus and combined it with leech DNA to create the T-Virus, a new biological weapon. Rebecca and Billy are briefly separated, and Rebecca is reunited with head of Bravo Team Captain Enrico, who informs her that the team are to meet up at a nearby mansion, but allows her to find Billy first, before he heads off to meet up with the rest of Bravo Team.
Rebecca and Billy find each other again, and after fighting through the facility, including an encounter with an early prototype of the Tyrant, they discover that James Marcus had been killed ten years ago on the orders of fellow Umbrella co-founder Oswell E. Spencer. His final experiment, the Queen Leech, then entered his corpse, gaining his memories and the ability to shape-shift. The incident on the train, and subsequently the facility, was orchestrated by the Queen Leech as revenge, thinking of itself as the real James Marcus. Rebecca and Billy are able to escape the facility and kill the Queen Leech, and find themselves in the forest outside. Rebecca tells Billy she will report him as dead, as he is still wrongfully deemed a criminal, and he thanks her before heading off his own way. Rebecca sees the mansion Captain Enrico mentioned earlier, and begins travelling towards it, leading to the events of Resident Evil.
As a prequel to the original game, Resident Evil Zero features some returning characters, most notably Rebecca Chambers. After Resident Evil – where she was Chris Redfield’s supporting character – Rebecca had been absent from the following games. Her inclusion here helps to develop her character as something more than “Oh No the monsters!”, with the character now being given a strong-willed personality, and isn’t afraid to stand up to a seemingly dangerous escaped criminal when she encounters him.
Billy Coen is a former Marine, who was framed for the massacre of 23 people in Africa as part of a cover-up. He is sentenced to death, but escapes on the way to his execution and hides on the Ecliptic Express, the train Rebecca also finds herself on board. His character appears somewhat distant, and his back story is slowly revealed over the course of the game. Resident Evil Zero is so far the only story to feature Billy Coen, so it would be interesting to see his character again, but this seems unlikely as he doesn’t have the same kind of charisma as other characters in the series, such as Leon and Chris, or even Carlos from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and is ultimately a forgettable character.
Whilst James Marcus, or rather his leech-riddled corpse, is the main antagonist, we also see a couple of familiar faces working for Umbrella. During the story, we see both Albert Wesker, the antagonist from Resident Evil and Code: Veronica, and William Birkin from Resident Evil 2. They are working behind the scenes, monitoring the situation on the train and in the facility as it happens, and had both previously worked with Dr. James Marcus. It is also implied that Wesker was the one who killed the original Dr. Marcus. During the game, Wesker informs Birkin that he is leaving Umbrella to join their rivals, but Birkin declines the offer to join him, deciding instead to continue work on the G-Virus. This leads into both characters plotlines in Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2.
Other returning characters are the members of Bravo Team, who appeared in Resident Evil in a much worse state. Here, we get a chance to see these characters alive and well, and also get an insight into the fates of some of them. Whilst their appearance is brief, it is pretty exciting for fans of the original game to get a glimpse at the team whose disappearance led to Alpha Team arriving at the same point, and therefore the events of Resident Evil, and of the series as a whole.
The ability to switch between Rebecca and Billy instantaneously, called “partner zapping”, is a nice addition to the gameplay, and compliments the lack of item chests, as both characters’ inventory space become vital. Items now have to be dropped and picked up later if another item is needed and the player has no more space, and these dropped items are marked on the map. This leads to a level of strategy and tactics being involved, as the location of certain dropped items could be crucial as the player progresses, and the further back the player has to travel to pick up one necessary item could cause them to run into unnecessary and unwanted trouble. Therefore, the player must choose what items they keep in their inventory carefully, and try to balance this with weapons, ammunition and health items for both characters.
Resident Evil Zero was released as part of an exclusivity deal with Nintendo as part of a three game deal, alongside a remake of Resident Evil and the next sequel in the series, Resident Evil 4. This left Resident Evil Zero in the middle of two highly anticipated titles, and despite receiving positive reviews, would not be regarded as highly as other games in the series. The lack of any real connection to Resident Evil besides the characters, and a sometimes frustrating inventory management system, as well as a forgettable plot and weak antagonist keeps Resident Evil Zero from reaching the same kind of popularity that other titles such as Code: Veronica achieved, but the recent release of the game on PSN and XBox Live could see more people get a chance to play it, as this is the first time the game has been ported from the Gamecube, much like the vastly superior remake of Resident Evil. I myself need to replay the game, as it has been a long while since doing so, therefore I am not a personally invested in this title, so maybe with a fresh play through the problems I originally had with the game might not seem so bad. One thing that certainly didn’t help its cause, however, was the soon to be released Resident Evil 4, at the time one of the most anticipated games of the year, and a game that would go on to be regarded as one of the most influential and greatest of all time.
